We have a newly installed floor from a local retail outfit. We used their installer since we wanted to have a great looking floor and be professionally installed. We were also short on time since we need to moved in there by the end of the month. We had moved out to do a pretty extensive remodel, mostly done by myself and my brother.

The floor is Pinnacle Amerberleigh Vinge Hickory and the adhesive used was Mohawk Hardwood Urethane Adhesive. The flooring comes in 3 widths and different lengths. It was installed on a cement slab that is about 40 years old. Wood flooring was delivered by sales guy and myself on a Friday in a A/C'd house. Flooring installation did not start until Tuesday afternoon. Previous flooring was glue down parquet (original to house), carpet, and slate tile. We had also removed a fireplace to free up floor space.

Once the main room was finished, we noticed numerous boards were flexing when we walked. Sometimes it was at the butt end, sometimes it was along the tongue/groove edge. If it was the tongue/groove edge, both boards would flex. I walked the entire floor checking for loose boards. We ended up finding about 15 in a 500 sq foot room (16x31).

During this time, we also found where one board was higher than the adjacent board and there was a noticeable gap between the boards.

We were assured that once the installer was finished, we would not notice it. He addressed those issues and went on to install the rest of the flooring throughout the hallway and one bedroom. By "addressing those issues", I mean he used a product called DriTac to inject underneath the boards via drilled holes to fill in the gaps so it would not flex as we walked on it. He then puttied over the holes and the gap previously mentioned. The puttied gap now looks like a grout line as the putty does not match the wood. Some of the wood holes were colored in with ebony stain, ours is a hickory. So you see black dots on the floor.

Once he had finished the floor installation, we noticed more gaps in the floor. Most you can get a credit card into. Some of them, you can get 2 cards in and one you'd need about 6 cards to fill the gap. We've counted 20+ gaps. There are also 2 areas where the wood floor was not cut properly by a door casing and there is no wood where there should be wood.

Is this a standard for a professionally installed floor?

Would an inspector be my best choice to get the correct answer?

Thanks, Kevin in OKC

If you buy from a box store they make you buy putty. Bruce and a few others say putty is ok right in there installation literature.

Some installers try and skimp on glue, smaller trowel vs larger trowel cus they are afraid they may run out, or someone did not order enough to begin with. Plus...weighting down the floor and rolling it helps prevent lifting planks that have a slight bow in them. A few oddball hollow spots are acceptable and Dri-tac is as well IMHO. And the use of straps also helps for gaps on the long joints.

Everyone sees things differently as some people expect perfection, some don't.

Sounds like your sub-floor wasn't even
Or flat in some spots. Flexing on the butt end can indicate the T/G was cut off.

Overall I would say I would have expected a better install. But the gaps can be caused by the type of flooring. If its engineered floor then you shouldn't have any gaps, If you have the typical 3/4 solid wood, then you could expect some gaps but again a good installer wouldn't use pieces that are in poor condition. Also if the pieces are long enough, there shouldn't be much flex.

Yes, my guess is that the subfloor wasn't level/flat and/or smooth in some areas. This may be have been caused when removing the parquet. For a glue down installation, you need a smooth surface for it to adhere to.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County, NY

We install 3,000 sq ft per week and I can barely recall the last time we used dritac due to hollow spots. If the floor is properly flattened to industry guidelines, proper trowel size, decent adhesive, weighting down boards that are slightly bowed and blue tape to prevent movement you would have little need for dri tac. I inspected one that had, I was told, 700 injections and counting. General rule of thumb is if there is a hollow spot but no board movement and only one board involved generally not necessary to dritac. Pretty expensive proposition for a lot of boards.
Most urethane wood adhesives ridiculously tenacious to remove.

Regarding the use of putty to fill gaps. If the wood is not within the specifications for either solid or engineered wood do not use it as installation is considered acceptance by all mfg's. There are industry standards for both and if not within these standards don't use them. We install on average 4,000 sq yds a week and have never used putty. No way it could look ok with prefinished products. Installers wanting to finish and get paid may overlook the gaps but if they are big enough to see that is clearly the installers fault. On site sand and finish utilizing wood fillers particularly as these are always square sides and ends, and not beveled to hide the slight height differences of prefinished is acceptable and necessary. If the width of the boards are so out of spec don't use them. I know of no prefinished products that advocate using putty to fill gaps.